The Brickyard, Salas Heartbreak And The Longest Tournament Name

With the embarrassment of the Solheim Cup in the rear-view mirror, women’s golf in America is back at a very recognizable venue.

Some may not know it but there are golf holes inside the race track at Indianapolis, site of the Indy 500.  Those holes are part of the Brickyard Crossing Golf Club, site of this week’s LPGA event which carries the distinction of having the longest name in professional golf tournament history:  Indy Women In Tech Championship Driven By Group 1001.  Say that one 10 times really fast.

The brickyard was the site of a heartbreaking experience for Lizette Salas last year.  She had a three-foot putt at the final hole to win for the first time since 2014 and missed.  She then had the unpleasant task of facing South Korea’s Sung Hyun Park in a playoff and the result was predictable — victory by Park.

Park’s back, so is Salas, so is the 2017 winner — Lexi Thompson — who is looking to bounce back after a miserable showing at the Solheim Cup where she failed to win a single match.  She went 0-2-2.

There were a lot of fireworks on Sunday last year.  Amy Yang was in the hunt, Brooke Henderson shot a closing 63 but it came down to Salas and Park.  After Sala missed that short birdie putt, the second time down the short 18th she missed her drive in some thick rough and could only get within 20 feet of the cup while Park hit it inside 10 feet from just 54 yards out.

Salas missed her birdie putt then watched Park make hers for the win.

Park is currently ranked No. 2 behind fellow South Korean Jin Young Ko.